Push to reinstate maternity services

Castlemaine Health has temporarily paused birthing services to review its policies, procedures and processes to ensure they align with the requirements of a low-risk Level 2 birthing service.

The hospital announced last Saturday that it will be working with its midwives and local GP Obstetricians, Bendigo Health and Safer Care Victoria to complete the review which is expected to take around six weeks.The announcement saw an outcry from the local community concerned about the future of the service and calling for it to be reinstated while the review takes place.

A local group ‘Support Birthing at Castlemaine Health’ has been formed to lead the push for services to resume. It quickly rallied to issue a petition this week calling on Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards to contact the CEO of Safer Care Victoria and urge him to lift the suspension and allow services to resume while the review takes place.

Support Birthing at Castlemaine Health spokesperson Arabella Davison said the decision to suspend services is an inexplicable response when hospitals regularly undertake medical reviews as normal practice and services are maintained. See the full story in the Mail. Out Now.